It all began with teams refusing to tour the country owing to the constant security threats following the attack on the Sri Lankan team – they even lost the right to host the World Cup. They there were ugly battles between the board and the players, as a result of which exceptional talents like Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq fell by the wayside. And just when Pakistan fans hoped that matters couldn’t get worse, the spot fixing menace hit them in the face. As a result, the team lost three of its brightest jewels in the form of then skipper Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. Considering all that transpired, only a win on the cricket field could have turned things round for Pakistan, and this is what Misbah and co did so commendably well against England.

There was an air of freshness about everything that this new look side did. And it all began with their far from flamboyant but efficient skipper, leading from the front. A couple of years back, Misbah wasn’t even in the scheme of things in Pakistan cricket until extreme circumstances saw him being thrust into the job, a duty which he has been doing rather diligently. Under Misbah, Pakistan began from scratch and so far things have been rather smooth. The introduction of new faces has brought a sense of freshness into the team that was clearly missing, and was desperately required as well.

Azhar Ali’s knock in the third Test when Pakistan were in trouble symbolised the team’s new-found team spirit. Asad Shafiq too played his part with some impressive knocks while rookie wicket keeper Adnan Akmal did a decent job behind the stumps, much better than Kamran, whilst scoring some crucial runs as well. In fact, it was a complete team effort from the batsmen, with the experienced guys chipping in as well. The openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar featured in one crucial partnership, but more will be expected of them in the future. However, it was the performance of their senior most batsman Younis Khan that was one of the defining factors of the memorable victory for Pakistan. Like Yousuf, Khan too had a run in with the establishment, lost his captaincy and even his place in the side for a while. Significantly, he has made a successful comeback to the team, and has looked as assured as he ever has. Khan will be the pivot of the side along with Misbah in the near future for Pakistan.

Apart from Khan and Misbah, it was the performance of their two spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman that was the key difference between the two sides. Even though England have traditionally struggled against spin in Asian conditions, the number one side in the world were expected to do a lot better this time round. However, Ajmal and Rehman proved that nothing much has changed much as far as England’s woes against spin are concerned.

Despite the win against England and their recent success, it would be premature to conclude that Pakistan cricket is back on track. Like India and England they will face sterner challenges when they tour away from home, and it is then that their mettle will come to the fore. Till then, Pakistan have earned the right to bask in the glory of English bashing. Kudos Misbah & co!

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Following the 4-0 whitewash by Australia, India’s stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag had received a lot of flak in the media for stating that India too had beaten the Australians at home during the latter’s last visit. In view of England’s capitulation, the statement makes a lot more sense, as it puts into perspective the mindset of the current players, who believe they can beat anyone at home, but are wary of doing the same once they leave the shores. Gautam Gambhir’s ‘come to India and then we’ll show you’ retort to a query over India’s abysmal overseas performances in recent months is a perfect exposition of this thought process.

Everything seemed hunky dory for England as long as they were playing at home and even in Australia. In fact, after the 4-0 humiliation of India, many were rating the present squad as the best in recent times, and one that is likely to dominate world cricket in the times to come. Just one series in Asia, and all that now seems a whole lot of thrash. Yes, the compliments showered on the team were deserving, but the overwhelming plaudits were too premature. After all, for a team to be the best in the world they need to perform in all conditions, which Australia did credibly during their rule at the top. Both India and England have faltered gravely on this front.

Just like the reputation of India’s big three took a beating following the losses in England and Australia, so too the English batsmen have been given a rude reality check by the Pakistani spinners. At least Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman performed credibly away from home at the peak of their career. The same cannot be said of the English batsmen. A number of when who bloated their career averages with mammoth knocks against India at home came a cropper against the duo Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman. Even the part-time spin of Mohammad Hafeez troubled a few of them. Alastair Cook did well in a couple of innings, but was nowhere close to consistency he achieved against India. The others struggled, literally.

Skipper Andrew Strauss, who was being hailed a great captain till not long ago, suddenly saw his place in the side itself being questioned — the vagaries of the sport coming to the fore again. He did not do himself any good by failing in most of his essays. The other highly rated batsmen followed suit. Jonathan Trott was not patient enough, an aspect considered to be his forte, Kevin Pietersen’s technique was exposed glaringly, as he struggled to score, forget dominate. Further, Ian Bell, who is rated as England’s best player of spin, made a mockery of his reputation with a shambolic showing. To add to the English misery, Eoin Morgan seemed unprepared for his sternest test, and Stuart Broad performed as if he had left his best back in England, for the next home series. The telling stat was that there were no centuries from anyone.

First India and now England, it looks like being number one in Test cricket is turning out to be a curse.

A macro view of India’s performance Down Under and the preceding overseas tour of England leads to one clear cut conclusion, that India’s technical flaws have been exposed to the hilt by both teams. The game on Sunday was a classic example of how India failed to adapt to the conditions with both bat and ball. While Australian pacemen hit the deck hard and were rewarded accordingly, India made a tactical blunder by leaving out both their fast men — Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav. As a result, even though Vinay bowled extremely well to pick up three wickets, the result struggled. Praveen Kumar was economical, but on a wicket that demanded that the ball be hit hard on the deck, he was far from threatening.

To make things worse for M S Dhoni, his spinners, with exception of impressive leggie Rahul Sharma, bowled some absolute thrash, when the need was to keep things tight. Ravichandran Ashwin is having a tough tour, reiterating he has a long way to go despite his short-term success. This tour should be good learning curve for him though. After an impressive outing in the second T20, Ravindra Jadeja returned to his ungainly ways, bowling two no balls and conceding plenty of loose deliveries for the Aussie batsmen to make merry. Although Jadeja has done well since his return to the Indian squad, his bowling effort on Sunday was unacceptable. Both his free hits went to the boundary, and did India’s sagging confidence little good.

Even as India’s bowlers have struggled on this demanding tour, it has been their batting that has been consistently disappointing. And it is clear now that most of the batsmen’s game is suited only for subcontinent conditions – this includes the experienced players. Gautam Gambhir has played a couple of good knocks in the last month, but his inability to let the ball go outside the off stump has become his bane. The poke shot has been Gambhir’s go to stroke in the past, but the lift gained by the bowlers has been his undoing Down Under more often than not. Yes, he has been making a conscious effort to leave the ball alone outside the off. However, old habits die hard, and so has been the case with Gambhir, who keeps getting into a tangle when the ball is pitched in that uncomfortable zone.

Similar has been the story with the others as well. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma briefly shone for India, but their inexperience came to the fore as Kohli perished hitting the ball in the air and Sharma poked at a lifter outside off ala Gambhir. Suresh Raina was worked over once again in expected fashion. A number of deliveries were pitched up to him earlier on, and the moment he got his first short ball, it led to his downfall. Jadeja completed a forgettable game for him by also falling to the short ball. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was brilliantly deceived by Mitchell Starc. Tendulkar drove at one which seemed to deliberately pitched wide off him, and Ricky Ponting plucked a brilliant catch to put India on the back-foot right away. The fielding effort of the two sides was a study in contrast and represented the wide gulf between India and Australia.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

He will only be in his mid 20’s by the time his five-year ban term comes to an end (unless of course the ban is revoked). However, time waits for no one and by the time he is allowed to come back to the international arena, Pakistan cricket may have moved well ahead. Also, he wouldn’t have played any competitive cricket all these years, and one won’t be sure whether his mental scars would have healed by then. Amid the tainted trio, Amir is likely to be the worst sufferer. This is because he is the youngest of the lot and will lose out on his prime years. Butt and Asif would anyway be close to their retirement years by the time their banned tenure comes to an end. Also, the latter was never serious about the game and had been involved in a number of transgressions earlier as well. So one wonders if he is really bothered about the shame he has brought to the nation.

Returning to Amir, another strong raison d’etre why there are slim chances of him returning to international cricket or succeeding even if he returns is because history has proved that it is a next to impossible task. Take the case of Ajay Jadeja and Nicky Boje. They were banned from the game for their misdemeanors at the height of their cricketing powers. And when they wanted to return, there were no takers. Jadeja tried his hand at domestic cricket for a while, and Boje continues to play T20 cricket, alas their international career hit a point of no return as soon as they were penalized for their involvement with unwanted elements in the game.

Of the punished lot, only Herschelle Gibbs managed to make a successful return to international cricket. In fact he did better in his second stint as a player than the pre-banned era. However, his is more a case of an exception rather than a rule. There is no guarantee that Amir can tread a similar path. It has been learnt that the Pakistan cricket Board is ready to counsel Amir if he desires to return to the big stage. However, one wonders if Amir himself would be mentally tough to go through the grind all over again.

If he indeed gets a chance again he would be very lucky. But it is also a fact that the prying eyes of fans, players and administrators all over the world would be on him. Also, it would be tougher for Amir to win back the confidence of the cricket world, for this is second time that the cricket world has been embroiled in the fixing controversy. The sport had only just managed to get over the first shocker when this spot fixing shame was revealed. As such, it would only be fair if fans want such tainted characters to stay away from the game for ever.

Some noble men like Mike Brearley have had the heart to say that Amir should be given another chance considering his raw age and prodigious talent. But here, the PCB’s role will be essentially critical. Even his Amir does not make it back to the path of fame, the PCB must at least ensure that future Amirs don’t fall along this thorny path for the betterment of both their and world cricket as a whole.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Of course, he was in charge of the team when they won their first Test ever on South African soil, at Durban. However, that had more to do with the individual brilliance of Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath than some shrewd leadership on the part of Dilshan. That said, he did contribute handsomely in one of the ODIs that Lanka won against the Proteas, and his side did manage to finish the series with a respectable 3-2 loss. However, that was far from enough to give Dilshan a longer run at the top. Nine months are enough for a mother to prepare her baby to enter the world, and similarly the same duration should be feasible to figure out whether or not a person is fit to lead his side. In Dilshan’s case, the answer was a resounding no.

For starters, as the old cliche goes, a leader must lead from the front. With Dilshan, it clearly wasn’t the case. He was visibly struggling to cope up with the additional responsibility of marshalling his troops and, as a result, his batting suffered badly. Some captains manage to inspire the side with their charismatic presence even when they themselves are not performing to potential. Mark Taylor is a classic example of such a leader and Sourav Ganguly too, albeit briefly. However, Dilshan clearly does not belong to this rare breed of captains. On the contrary, his struggles only mirrored those of the team’s as Sri Lanka went from one low to another. One doesn’t really know how much of a part the delay in payment of dues demotivated them. However, it certainly wouldn’t have done them any good. Unfortunately for Dilshan, it all combined to compound his misery as the Lankans went on losing one series after the other. And it all culminated with the losses in South Africa, though there were a few positives for the Lankans from it.

Apart from struggling for runs, Dilshan did not do much to impress in his role as captain either. He did not come across as an intelligent tactician nor was he willing to go the unorthodox way when things weren’t going his team’s way. Instead, he looked at loss for ideas, and even the presence of two former skippers Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene did not help much. The result was series losses in Test and one-dayers against England, Australia, Pakistan and, of course, the Proteas. As such, it was only fair that Sri Lanka began looking beyond Dilshan as skipper for the good of the side’s future.

Having said that, it was somewhat surprising that former skipper Jayawardene, who had given up the taxing job in 2009, has been reappointed to the post. The decision was taken possibly because there was no other real option. Vice-captain Angelo Mathews may have been an option, but it is a fact that the all-rounder has cemented his place in the team only recently. He is definitely the captain in waiting for Sri Lanka, the question is when and how. Meanwhile, Dilshan will do well to re-establish his place in the team as a dangerous opening bat, for his performance as a player remains critical to Lanka’s fortunes.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

It is a given that all cricketers are judged based on the consistency of their performances. And, on a scale of one to ten, Afridi would be ranked very low. In recent times though, Afridi has done exceptionally well as a bowler. Thus, whatever runs he scores these are considered as a bonus. In short, he has transformed himself into a highly credible bowling all-rounder. While he never came to terms with Test cricket, and, not surprisingly, retired from the long format of the game recently, he still has a lot to offer for Pakistan in ODIs and T20s. And thus, him being the best-selling player during the BPL auction is understandable.

The T20 game is tailor-made to suit big hitters like Afridi and Chris Gayle. The duo and the likes should consider themselves lucky to be playing in an era where T20 is ruling the roost in cricket. Many others bashers like Lance Klusener and Chris Cairns were not so lucky. The significance of boom bang players like Afridi rises in the T20 format for a number of reasons. While in a 50-over-a-side contest, 20-30 runs don’t make much of a difference, the same can prove to be a match-winning knock in the T20 format. And with Afridi one can be rest assured that he will score them at a blistering rate.

What makes the Afridi of now even more dangerous in T20s is the fact that his bowling has come of age, as mentioned above, and backed by the number of five-fors he took in international ODIs last year. Afridi has the ability to both pick wickets as well as squeeze the number of runs as per the demand of the situation, a precious and rarely possessed ability in bowlers, and one that could go a long way in him achieving consistent success at the T20 level. And, not least of all, he is a brilliant fielder. All these qualities combine to make him the perfect T20 package for any side.

As reported in the media, Afridi has decided to skip the BPL dollars in favor of the ODI series against England, a commendable decision made by the destructive batsman. He will be available for the BPL final in case the Dhaka Gladiators make it that far. But, that is another scenario altogether. Before that, he needs to concentrate on doing well in the ODIs and T20s against the Englishmen. Having been their talisman in recent times, the Pakistan team will be looking forward to match-winning performances by him in the upcoming series too. Often in the past he has promised a lot and delivered little. Pakistan cannot afford that scenario now for he is the most experienced hand in their team today, and the former skipper ought to lead from the front.

Afridi’s selection as the most expensive player in the BPL will remain as a jewel in the crown whether he gets a chance to feature in the league or not. More significantly though, he needs to now prove his value as the most versatile cricketer in the Pakistan team, by backing the worth given to him by the BPL with consistent performances against the Englishmen.

Over to Afridi.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Returning to the teesra question, it seems more of a mental disintegration tactic being tried out by Ajmal and less of a lethal weapon in his armoury. And, anyways, it has been proven over a period of time that mystery balls are overrated. Remember, Saqlain Mushtaq made a big name for himself with his doosra, picking up plenty of wickets initially. However, towards the end of his international career, his inability to strike despite possessing the famed delivery proved to be his undoing.

In recent times, the case of Ajantha Mendis stands out as the best example of how over dependence on one wicket-taking delivery can ruin a bowler’s career. Mendis stormed onto the scene with his mystery carom ball, which bamboozled even the wizards of spin bowling, India. Legends like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, all failed to read his variations and succumbed to him incessantly during Mendis’ debut series. That was about four years ago. Today, he is not even a certainty in the playing eleven for Sri Lanka. For the record, even Shoaib Akhtar boasted of having developed a special delivery to get rid of Sachin Tendulkar during the 2003 World Cup. He gave it an awesome name – spit rock. The result – on the day of the game he was pounded all over the park by Tendulkar.

There is another problem with Ajmal’s teesra, if he does possess it. His bowling action has been under constant scrutiny, and even though the ICC has cleared him, it wouldn’t hesitate to do a recheck in case Ajmal starts bowling a teesra. And Ajmal would want any such hindrance at this stage of his career, when he is at the top of his game. He should keep the case of former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik in mind, who lost his bowling ability owing to the constant examination he was subjected to due to his action.

If Ajmal’s teesra sensation is indeed a tactic to get under the skin of the Englishmen, which seems to be the case, it is a masterstroke. As it is, England are far from the best players of spin. And, who knows, this whole teesra talk might well have unsettled them during the first Test. Just like the Indian batsmen in Australia were waiting back for dreaded bouncers which rarely came, English batsmen might have been unsettled, wary of the unseen delivery which never came. Whatever be the case, England’s capitulation has given a major boost to the Pakistan team, and a much needed one at that considering the ugly things that have transpired in the interim.

That Ajmal, with his ten-wicket haul, played the major hand in the win reiterated that he is among the better spinners in the world currently. However, he needs to keep on performing consistently, and in all conditions to be rated the best unanimously, and not just based on rankings. After all, the teesra tactic may have worked against England, but there is no guarantee that it will have the same impact on other nations.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Saeed had a fabulous year in test cricket to say the least. He played his first test match in the West Indian tour at Providence Stadium, Guyana in May. It was his career best by bagging eleven wickets between two innings by taking 5 and 6 wickets in first and second innings respectively. This was the man playing test cricket after a span of six months and making such an impact, leaving his hosts completely clueless. He bowled doosras, top spinners, ball coming in and moving either ways, all sorts of varieties which could unsettle any batsman. Just a few months back, when he was bowling to Sachin in World cup semifinal, he bowled some pure beauties.

Best thing about Saeed is the way he can move the ball either ways, and even can produce the ones that go straight deceived by high arm action and resultant flight. Also the intelligent use of seam and those dark spots on tracks which are generally found in Asian wickets loads him with so much of guile that even the most focused batsmen find it hard to follow the hand and ball movements. Saeed also seems to have developed newer varieties which the television cameras will take time to understand but the deliveries that he has started bowling lately and the results are a proof of some serious lab work going on behind the scenes.

Pakistan’s new spin master – Saeed Ajmal – took 50 wickets in just 8 tests with 16 innings. He had a phenomenal year as the best for innings was 6/42 against Windies and best for match being 11/111 in the same match at Guyana. His yearly economy rate came down to 2.44 in 2011 as compared to 2.93 in 2010. His average has also improved to 23.86 in 2011 as compared to 36.66 in 2010. What is more interesting that he bowled a mammoth 487 overs in 2011 test matches as compared to just 187.1 overs in 2010 which shows how much Pakistani team depends on him.

Another important thing to notice is that last year he got to play under Salman Butt in the early part of year till the spot-fixing controversy and then Misbah assumed the responsibility. There is a clear difference in Butt and Misbah’s approach to handle the opposition. Ajmal obviously fits in much better and holds a very strong position in the scheme of things in current skipper’s mind. Also he deserves the credit for never letting the team down, which earns him the confidence to build on further.

Also that with time, Saeed has graduated to advanced levels of spin by doing justice to doosras, off-spin, top-spin and all the other unnamed varieties that we get to see when this magician runs in to produce the beauties.

In the end, I would say that Saeed Ajmal came in the team when Pakistan was lacking in spin department by miles, and over a period of very short time he has become a very reliable, dependable and important person in the playing eleven. It is a treat to watch him bowl with the same Saqlain Mushtaq’s type high arm curled bowling action and replicating the results.

By: Sheikh Usman N.

“Author is a computer software engineer by profession but a very keen follower of cricket. With his blog ‘Doosra’, he intends to express his views candidly to a wider audience.”

India have been stumbling away from home ever since Gautam Gambhir has begun failing at the top of the order. He is the one who has often given India that rock solid start in the company of the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, laying the platform of the Indian middle order to notch up big scores. Similarly, Australia too have been under the cosh with Shane Watson mostly out injured and Philip Hughes not living up to potential. This is where Ed Cowan could be of great value to the Australians. Like Langer, he belongs to the old school of openers, ready to hold one end up for as long as possible and allow the other stroke makers to blossom around him. This precious quality of his was evident in his debut Test itself, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he played a vital hand in rescuing the Aussies after the early setbacks.

There were positive signs from Cowan in the practice game against the Indians itself, during which he notched up a well-compiled century and staked his claim as a Test opener. Deservedly, he got the chance, and credit to him that he did not waste the opportunity. Known as the best leaver in Aussie cricket at present, he may have faltered in the art, misjudging a leave in the crucial second innings, but did enough in the match to show that he is one for the future. At 29, he is not extremely young, but to balance things out he has a lot of experience on hand, which he will need to call upon as Australia desperately need every inch of it. It came in very handy during the first innings at the MGC, where he in the company of Ricky Ponting, also under pressure to retain his spot in the side, put on a partnership that went a long way in keeping Australia afloat in the Test. And had it not been for an umpiring error, who knows Cowan could well have notched up a century on Test debut.

There are times when domestic experience can be more worthy that raw talent. The struggle of Hughes and the ease with which Cowan stepped into Test cricket makes this gulf clear. Hughes is still young, talented and has time on his side, but for the moment Cowan definitely seems the better choice. Of course, these are still very early days in the left-hander’s Test career. We will get a more decipherable view of where he stands as an international opener by the end of the series against India. But, it cannot be denied that he has all the right attributes like patience and perseverance to succeed as an opener at the highest level.

Cowan’s selection has come at an appropriate time for Australian cricket. But he also has another challenge on hand. When Watson returns from injury, either he or Shaun Marsh will have to sit out. As of now, Cowan has inched ahead with Marsh failing in both the innings at the MCG. However, Cowan cannot afford to relax as Marsh himself is a highly talented batsman. This internal rivalry with the Australian side can only be beneficial to the home team.

India beware!

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

The Lankan stalwart has an excellent record at home, having scored well over 6000 runs in 70 matches at a staggering average of 63 and as many as 20 hundreds since making his debut in 1997. He also has that unforgettable 374 as his highest score. In contrast, his away record is at best average. In 53 Tests he has played away from home between 1998 and 2011, Jayewardene has managed 3635 at an average of just over 40, with 9 tons and a highest of 275. But, the real story lies even deeper.

Jayewardene has always struggled when he sets foot out of the sub-continent. In Australia, he averages a meagre 34.25 from four Tests, having scored only 274 runs with the help of a solitary ton. The record’s even worse in South Africa. He hasn’t managed to score a single century in seven Tests against the Proteas. Possessing a disappointing average of 30 for his 390 runs with a highest of 98, Jayewardene has a chance to improve his record during the ongoing tour. He needs to come up with some big scores to earn unanimous respect from all quarters.

Surprisingly, the experienced Lankan batsman cannot boast of a good record in New Zealand as well, which is one of the weaker teams in international cricket. In four matches that he has featured in the Kiwi nation, Jayewardene has scored just 194 runs, 141 of them coming in one innings. And his average of just under 28 is not something he would be proud of. England is another country where he has again struggled to get going. Despite getting an opportunity to play 10 Tests in the country of the game’s berth, Jayewardene has never quite managed to get used to the conditions. With just 614 runs to show at a paltry average of 34 and only two centuries, Jayawardene’s reputation is dented further. For reasons best known to him, he hasn’t done too well in Pakistan either. In nine matches against the Asian rivals, he has registered just under 700 runs. And though the average of 42 is acceptable, it is still way below his career average of 50 plus.

Like so many other teams, Jayewardene has also reserved his best for India. He has played six matches against his favourite opponent in India, scoring over 600 runs at a highly impressive average of 63. But, that’s not enough to undo his failings in challenging conditions. For the record, he has struggled against the Aussies even at home. In nine games versus the former number one team in the world, he has registered only 529 runs at an unconvincing average of 35.

It can be argued that the weak figures aren’t solely Jayewardene fault, for the Lankans hardly travel abroad, and the island nation’s board could have done better that just arranging frequent trips to India. Then again, it is a fact that Jayawardene hasn’t performed to the full potential in the opportunities he has got. At 34, he still has a few years on hand to set the record straight. Probably, quitting the shorter formats and concentrating entirely on Tests could be the way to go. Whichever path he chooses, it cannot be debated that despite scaling the 10000 peak, Jayewardene still has a point to prove.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.